UNE Strategy 2021+ Environmental Scan and Analysis - 29 May 2020 Author Megan Aitken 0455 022 060
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OPEN Council Meeting Page 111 of 327
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UNE Strategy 2021+
Environmental Scan and Analysis
29 May 2020
Author
Megan Aitken
Megan_a@rocketmail.com
0455 022 060
OPEN Council Meeting Page 112 of 327
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Contents
Highlights Summary........................................................................................................................ 4
New Technologies .............................................................................................................................. 4
Changes in Pedagogy .......................................................................................................................... 4
New educational models .................................................................................................................... 4
Changing Consumer Demand and Trends .......................................................................................... 5
1.0 Market Trends and Themes....................................................................................................... 6
Online education growth.................................................................................................................... 6
Case Studies: New Online Models ...................................................................................................... 7
Lifelong Learning ................................................................................................................................ 7
The Fourth Industrial Revolution........................................................................................................ 8
Job Pathways Based on Skills ............................................................................................................. 9
Changes in Workplace Training ........................................................................................................ 11
Case Studies: Workplace Education and Training ............................................................................ 12
2.0 Market Drivers and Opportunities .......................................................................................... 13
The Domestic Market ....................................................................................................................... 13
The International Market ................................................................................................................. 15
The Modern Learner ........................................................................................................................ 16
A Closer Look at Generation Z (1995-2015) ..................................................................................... 17
A look at Generation Alpha (Born after 2010).................................................................................. 19
3.0 Educational Models and Competitive Landscape ..................................................................... 20
Emerging Educational Models .......................................................................................................... 21
New Educational Approaches .......................................................................................................... 22
Case Studies: New Business Models in Practice ............................................................................... 22
Game Changers: ............................................................................................................................... 23
Job Placement Services ................................................................................................................... 23
Corporate Training .......................................................................................................................... 23
Immersive Media ............................................................................................................................ 23
Leveraging The Shared Economy .................................................................................................... 24
Leveraging Crowd Sourcing ............................................................................................................. 24
4.0 Strategic Digital Trends in Education ....................................................................................... 25
Longer Team: Top trends for universities 2022-2025 ...................................................................... 25
Short Term: Top trends for universities 2020-2022 ......................................................................... 27
Case Studies: New Technologies In Practice .................................................................................... 32
5.0 Impact of COVID-19 pandemic ................................................................................................ 34
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Education sector............................................................................................................................... 34
Online learning ................................................................................................................................. 34
Businesses and the consumers......................................................................................................... 35
Economy ........................................................................................................................................... 35
Post Covid - A New Norm ................................................................................................................. 36
6.0 Trends in pedagogy and teaching models ............................................................................... 37
Digital Pedagogy ............................................................................................................................... 37
Adaptive Learning ............................................................................................................................ 38
Flipped Learning ............................................................................................................................... 39
Digital Courseware Design ............................................................................................................... 40
Case Studies: Digital Pedagogy in Practice ....................................................................................... 41
7.0 Evolving models for industry engagement............................................................................... 42
The Value of Better Partnerships ..................................................................................................... 42
Maturity of Australia’s Industry Engagement Model ....................................................................... 43
Case Studies: Industry Engagement Ecosystems .............................................................................. 44
8.0 Trends in physical and built education infrastructure .............................................................. 46
SmartCampus ................................................................................................................................... 46
Case studies: Smart Campus Stars ................................................................................................... 47
9.0 Regulatory Systems and Policies ............................................................................................. 48
Impact of Covid ................................................................................................................................ 48
Likely Regulatory Scenarios .............................................................................................................. 48
10.0 Research ............................................................................................................................... 49
Case Studies: Star Performers .......................................................................................................... 50
11.0 Mergers and Acquisitions ...................................................................................................... 50
Case Studies ..................................................................................................................................... 51
12.0 Change Management Models................................................................................................ 52
Kotter Model (2014) ......................................................................................................................... 53
Case Studies ..................................................................................................................................... 53
Recommended Reading ................................................................................................................ 55
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Highlights Summary
New Technologies
• Investment in new learning technologies will surge as a result of Covid-19 so universities must continue to build
on their current online successes with more rigour and pace than ever before.
• Short term (2020-2023), there are eight different initiatives that are being implemented across universities
and should form part of any university strategy: Adaptive Learning; Blended/Flipped Learning Delivery;
Immersive and Multi-Media Courseware Design; Artificial Intelligence Analytics (Insights Driven Education);
Learning Gamification; Learner Spaces/Labs; Enhanced Learner Experience Systems (LMS, Enrolment and
CMS); Data and Cyber Safety and Security
• Priority should be given to a three-year artificial Intelligence and data warehouse strategy to leverage
student data across all phases of their journey (enrolment, learning experience, job placement). This enables the
implementation of technology tools such as chatbots, personalised learning and predictive nudge strategies.
• Trialling and implementing immersive media (AR/VR/holograms) and new digital design in courseware is
starting to emerge in selected Faculties. Investing in, or partnering with organisations, to transform existing
content using new technologies are now part of new digital era. Simulation tools reduce the overall cost and
volumes of learning, they provide more data points compared to traditional learning, and improve graduation
outcomes. While enhancing courseware assets through the use of 360 degree videos, interactive quizzes,
hotspots, ebooks, role playing tools, 3D models complement immersive media to provide a truly digitised
experience for students.
• Being able to provide students with an enhanced learning platform (LMS) that is agnostic to the mode of
delivery (ie: it can be used for online and hybrid learning), offers intuitive digital features and digitally designed
courseware, as well as personalised learning will be key in the future. The real challenge is linking this seamless
digital experience to existing content management systems, enrolment systems and CRMs.
• Establishing an in-house innovation Lab/EdTech space should be considered to pilot and test new
technologies. This will develop an internal vanguard of change for the wider organisation to facilitate a more
modern approach to introducing new technology enhanced learning [Kotter 1996].
Changes in Pedagogy
• A coordinated digital-first pedagogy approach across all Faculties when designing courseware and curriculum
will be a competitive advantage in the new era of learning. Few universities have mastered a truly integrated
approach using digital design, adaptive learning, flipped classrooms/hybrid learning, and a sophisticated
learning platform.
• The university sector is rethinking the way it approaches credentials, and assessments – the aim is to digitise,
bring more mobility and validation to the system. Digital badging is relatively new in the university sector but
there is an opportunity to actively participate in this market through collaboration with other universities and
associated partners - to create a badging community, internationally or in the domestic market.
• The increasing demand for shortened educational products and need to have lifelong learning requires the
development of skills-based shorter educational suites of courses (stackable skillset, micro degrees, nano-
degrees ) by all universities. These can be used as pathways for further degree education, customised for use in
workplace learning, or as skills top-ups for existing students or post graduate students. A centralised Digital
Design function to support the development of digital first pedagogy and a more agile product development
process could facilitate this shift into developing micro-masters, nano-degrees, short course credentials.
• Courses that educate citizens for future roles (eg Cybersecurity) and courses that provide future focussed
skills/education to support workplace transition present new market opportunities. Universities’ self-
accrediting system allows them to move faster than other providers.
• Offering hybrid delivery (online and face to face) in a truly flipped classroom model will be the learning of the
future, and has the potential to increase student outcomes by up to 30per cent and reduce delivery costs by up to
10per cent. Academic capability needs improving and courseware need rapid digital transformation in order to
fit into this new model.
New educational models:
• In a new digital era, all universities will need to embark on double transformation where they reposition their
core business but also invest in the future business model.
• Many universities are developing a strategy to establish a deeper Industry Engagement Ecosystem which will
provide competitive advantage. The massive workplace transformation required in Australia following Covid-19,
combined with digital disruption, provides a unique platform for this model in the university sector. The overall
reputation of universities as quality providers of workplace learning and education will hold them in good stead.
This ecosystem moves being projects to a deep partnering model.
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• As part of this effort, on-campus, in-residence programmes with companies, and establishing jointly owned
Capability Academies or Innovation Precincts are now taking hold. This will provide a stronger proposition for
future students who will leave university should a better learning opportunity be presented that also has
employment. There is room for a regional university to establish a regional Innovation Academy (eg University
of Maryland) or to develop regional Capability Precincts in partnership with others.
• Many universities are stepping up their B2B and B2G models by providing specific courses created for
workplace learning. There is an opportunity to create a strong, co-creation model with large and medium sized
organisation that includes the co-creation and dual branding of curriculums or white labelling. This is a growth
market.
• A number of universities are investing in the new digital experience. Revamping existing courseware and
legacy LMS systems is commonplace, however, the ability to embed AI, provide personalised learning and
extending the value chain to provide students with direct employment opportunities and add-ons to their
products/degrees is rare. While common in the US (Udacity model), this fully integrated model is yet to be
mastered by a domestic provider.
• A number of sandstone universities are deepening their partnerships with aggregators such as Coursera.
While these institutes enable universities to distribute existing product to a wider market, they now also provide
the sector with an opportunity to source multidisciplinary courses for existing students, curate global content to
reinvigorate existing courseware (eg Duke Model), or white-label their own content for a fee to support other
Coursera members.
• Some more advanced educational institute are looking to the shared economy and gig economy to leverage
improved operational efficiencies. Both trends can be leveraged when sourcing freelancers, hiring out university
venues, conducting digital testing, and seeking insights from analytics.
• The vast majority of universities now have a dedicated Innovation Academy, Digital Lab or Incubator Space
that brings together students and industry to collaborate, innovate, solve problems that can then be
commercialised. Clever collaboration with other universities and industries will be key.
Changing Consumer Demand and Trends
• The modern learner demands seamless and advanced digital technologies to be fully integrated into their
educational interactions. Most students believe that university courses need significant digital transformation.
• There is a recognised 8 second filter for Gen Z when reviewing/considering new universities, and a 4-5 min
attention span when learning. Digital presence and engaging courseware design need to be best-in-class.
• Personalising the student learning journey, collaborating with like-minded brands and providing students
with employment opportunities (projects with companies, internships, volunteering, using AI and algorithms to
match employers with students matching) will provide a distinct proposition to Gen Z learners.
• The need to have continuous lifelong learning, the emergence of portfolio (freelance) careers and the gig
economy are driving the demand for self-directed, affordable, accessible and time critical education. New
segments of learners and new learning propositions will challenge the dominance of undergraduate degree
programs, and continuous learning skills will become part of the mainstream university curriculum.
• Three quarters of Australian businesses are hiring people with different skills and workers need to double their
education and learning by 2040. Universities need to more closely align their offerings with the needs of the
workforce – to attract students, retain existing students and gain more Govt funding.
• When surveyed, students would leave if offered another course that provided employment opportunities and
many students remain unemployed or under employed four months after graduation. Add on employment
services, talent management services need to be part of the end-to-end university offering.
• With international student enrolments dropping, the focus will turn to the domestic market. Diploma, degree
courses are overlapping so there is an opportunity to capture a slice of the vocational market.
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1.0 Market Trends and Themes
Online education growth
Higher education is being rapidly transformed by the growth in online learning, with an increasing
number of universities offering degrees online. Propelled by Covid-19, this market trend will continue to dominate
the sector – it is now an essential part of our educational infrastructure and becoming core business.
• The Australian online education market is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 8 per cent to $7 billion by
2024. Globally the CAGR is expected to be 7-10 per cent with some analysts predicting the sector will reach
USD$331 billion by 20251.
• In Australia, Ernst and Young found that 22 per cent of current students and 42 percent of future university
students have a preference for the majority of their studies to be delivered online, and 58 per cent of this
same cohort stated that the availability of online study played a role in their university choice.2
• The Grattan Institute found that there has been a 25 per cent increase in the past decade of students
deciding to study off-campus using mobile and PC technologies. In addition, 13 per cent of students
undertake what is known as multi-modal study – taking some course elements online and some face-to-
face.3
• Google’s Online Education Suite now has 100million users globally.4
As the e-learning market evolves, it is also becoming increasingly diversified with new competition, new products,
new teaching models. Current online offerings are trending toward short-term certificates (so-called micro-
credentials or nano degrees) with digital credentials, free offerings (MOOCs) as well as stackable degree programs in
which learners earn an academic credential by completing a self-paced sequence of topics. The learning is
asynchronous (self-paced) and student-centred.
• Globally, 77 per cent of the total education market is self-paced as a result of online education growing in
demand5
• The MOOC market (free online courses) will be worth a total of $60bn globally by 2029 and attracted 350
million enrolments in 2019. Lead by market leaders such as Coursera, edX, FutureLearn, these providers are
now partnering more closely with regional educational institutes to expand their market share. 6
• The digital badging market is expected to reach $291.28mn by 2026, growth at a CAGR of 18.81per cent
from 2019 to 20267. APAC is noted as the best market for future investment and growth in this sector.
The general penetration of mobile phones and internet access has contributed to the growing usage, particularly in
regional locations and among the working population.
• Australia has a mobile phone penetration rate that is the fourth highest in the world - 18.5 million mobile
phone internet accessors in 2019.8 This has resulted in rising demand for untethered access to online
education and post graduate studies where students can more easily fit their studies around busy working
and personal lives.
• The NBN is on track for full rollout by 2020 and will aid this growth by raising the number of internet
connections in regional and remote areas – citizens with this connectivity are twice as likely to enrol in
online education than non NBN connected users. 9 With increased speed of data transfer and a more stable
method of educational delivery, new channels and use of engagement tools such as high definition video
1
Australia Online Education Market By Technology Type, By Provider, By Application Type (Academic, Corporate & Government), By
Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities. Research and Markets Report, July 2019. Research and Markets.com.
2 Can the Universities of Today Lead Learning for Tomorrow, Ernst& Young, 2018. Accessed 12 May 2020. Ernst& Young.
3 Mapping Australian Higher Education. Andrew Norton. The Grattan Institute. September 2018.
4 Google Classroom Users Doubled as Quarantines Spread, BloombergQuint, Gerrit De Vynck and Mark Bergen, 9 April 2020.
5 Top 20 eLearning Statistics I 2019. Christopher Pappas. 24 September 2019. eLearning Industry.
6The Global MOOC Market is Forecast to Reach $20.8 Billion by 2023 from $3.9 Billion in 2018 - Analysis by Component, Course, User Type and
Region. BusinessWire, 2 Jan 2020.
7 Digital Badges Market by Offering (Platform and Services), End User (Academic (K-12 and Higher Education) and Corporate (SMEs and
Large Enterprises), and Region (North America, Europe, APAC, and Row) - Global Forecast to 2023 Report. MarketsandMarkets. August
2018.
8 Global Digital Badges Market By Offering, By End Use, By Geographic Scope, Competitive Landscape And Forecast. Verified Market
Research. April 2019.
9 Older Australians fastest-growing online learners. Media Release, 20 August 2018. NBN Connecting Australia.
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streaming will emerge. This will also enable students to access personalised cloud networks to study from
home, conduct peer-to-peer learning, or access information from a global academy.
Key Insight
Covid-19 has propelled online learning and is viewed as the tipping point for universities to transition their
business models. Those universities that already have a strong foothold in online learning will be able to move
more quickly to maintain momentum. However, partnering and participating in aggregator models such as
Coursera should be considered in order to achieve scale and growth in an increasingly competitive and global
online education market.
Case Studies: New Online Models
Harvardx HBX is the online platform for Harvard Business School and is a faculty run, experimental
catalyst for improving teaching and online learning. In 2018, revenue grew by 58per cent
showing clear demand for online education.
MITx MITx offers online courses through edX that can be audited to provide students with a verified
certificate from MIT for an extra cost. The model provides self-paced learning, online
discussion groups, wiki-based collaborative learning, online assessments and laboratories. In
2018, MITx shared 111 MOOCs as teasers to their paid degree offerings, with 26 being run for
the first time.
EdEx EdEx is a collaborative organisation of institutes partnering to offer 2,500+ courses to
students globally including MIT, Harvard and Berkshire universities. The platform has 120
institutional partners globally and an offering for business customers. Arizona State Uni is
currently partnering with EdEx to offer all first-year students with free MOOC courses and
students can then “Pay for Your Result” - accreditation for a fee. EdEx invented the
MicroMasters.
Udacity Udacity has over 100,000 graduates and partners with companies to offer online nanodegrees
(demand for which is now 75per cent of their student cohort). Co-created curriculums offer
students a digital badge and employment matching on completion. They have 50 enterprise
clients and half of these are in the Fortune Top 500. Udacity invented the nano-degree.
Lifelong Learning
The need for lifelong and continuous learning is changing the nature of our education sector.
• With the average worker needing to sustain a 50-60-year career over a 100-year lifespan, learners will be
increasingly required to update, refresh and retool to navigate complex career structures. 10
• It is anticipated that the average Australian worker will change jobs 2.4 times over the next two decades,
and 60 per cent will seek a totally new role in a new industry in the next decade. As a consequence, the ‘half-
life of a learned skill today is 5-years’ – ie: much of what students learnt 10 years ago is obsolete and half of
what they learnt 5 years ago is now irrelevant.
• On average, Australians will need to spend 33 per cent more time on education and training across their
lifetime by 2040 which equates to an additional three hours per week on training to keep pace with
workplace changes.
• This ‘skills gap’ within Australia is costed at circa $2bn – the cost to future proof Australia’s workforce
(totalling 600 billion additional hours of education and training).
• The nature of employment is also changing. This is shifting from permanent to casual, and seeing new fields
emerge such as portfolio and gig-workers; presenting universities with new market segments that have
very distinct needs. In Australia, one third of our workforce consists of freelancers and an estimated
700,000 workers moonlight as freelancers whilst also being full time employed.
10 Careers and Learning, Real Time, All the Time. Human Capital Trends Report. Bill Pelster, Dani Johnson, Jen Stempel, Bernard van der
Vyver. 28 February 2017. Deloitte.
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These factors combined have spurred a rise in consumers seeking alternative credentials that offer short, low-cost
online courses delivered in bite-sized chunks, that can be stacked together to achieve mastery in a larger concept.
These courses provide learners with a digital certification / badges that show proficiency in particular industries or
knowledge areas, helping them to accredit further learning.
Key Insight
The need to have continuous lifelong learning, the emergence of portfolio (freelance) careers and the gig
economy are driving the need for self-directed, affordable, accessible and time critical education. New
segments of learners and new learning propositions will challenge the dominance of undergraduate degree
programs, and continuous learning skills are likely to become part of the mainstream university curriculum.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
The Fourth Industrial Revolution is here and represents entirely new ways in which technology becomes embedded
within societies and (in the future) human bodies, with tools such as AI and big data. Examples include genome
editing, new forms of machine learning and intelligence, cryptographic methods such as the blockchain, robotics and
automation.
The main drivers of the Revolution are:
1. Demographic and Socio: 44per cent - changing nature of work, flexible work
2. Technological: 34per cent - mobile internet, cloud technology, big data
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report11 found that by 2022/23:
• 133 million new jobs will be created to meet the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
• 35 per cent of core skills will change. Skills such as emotional and social intelligence, creative thinking,
collaborative, and complex problem-solving tasks will be in demand - skills that machines and automation
cannot replicate.
• This will create new roles called ‘super-jobs’: machine-powered, data-driven roles that require human
support. These skills are required in addition to a student’s technical or academic qualifications.
11 The Future of Jobs Report. World Economic Forum. 2018
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The McKinsey Report12 in Australia also found:
• One third of Australia’s workforce will need to reskill to future-proof their employment.
• 50 per cent of companies believe that automation will decrease their numbers of full-time staff and, by
2030, robots will replace 800 million workers across the world.
Education is at the forefront of enabling the workforce to successfully transition to a future way of working and
prepare for thesenew emerging roles. This ‘job transitioning process’ will be the greatest challenge of our time,
according to the World Economic Forum13.
• By 2026, without any retraining, 16 per cent of all displaced workers in developed countries will find
themselves unskilled for current work opportunities, and another one in four will find that they have up to
three potential job transitions to choose from.
• With reskilling, over 95 per cent of displaced workers could move into growing, high income jobs. However,
this requires that 70 per cent of affected workers retrain in a new job “family” or career
• Coordinated efforts by educators, businesses, policymakers are required to mobilise this effort in Australia.
The ability to map pathways for employees and job roles will be key for universities and education
providers to develop new courses, skill sets and products.
Job Pathways Based on Skills
Whereas traditional pathways programmes focussed on moving a student from vocational training through to degree
qualifications, new pathways focus on moving students based on skill sets. This poses a significant risk to the
university sector.
• Universities will need to adapt to an interdisciplinary system, where they offer a range of relevant skillsets
rather than one specific field. This will require an unbundling of existing products (bite sized content, easily
digestible), introducing new products that are relevant to new skills (mini degrees in emerging areas), and
developing new forms of accreditation (badging), and better aligning their offerings to changes in the
workplace.
• As their own accrediting organisations, universities have a speed-to-market advantage over competing
vocational or private providers. Universities should look to partner with organisations to review the future
of work, and design courses and degree programmes that support organisations as they transform their
workforce and find new talent for emergent roles.
• Faethm and other providers are emerging to work alongside organisations using AI analytics to predict the
impact of emerging technology on any job, workforce, company, industry, location or economy. As a result,
this enables companies and governments to validate and prioritise digital transformation agendas, re-skill
employees for the future, develop better strategies and policies, and make smarter investment decisions.
• In this new world, as per the example below, a Finance and Insurance Clerk can move up the skills chain to
become a Blockchain Specialist without the need for a degree, and an ICT Technician can move to become a
cybersecurity expert or data analyst using skills based training alone.
12 Jobs Lost Jobs Gained – What the future of work will mean for jobs, workers and skills. James Manyika. McKinsey Report. 28 November
2018.
13 The Future of Jobs Report. World Economic Forum. 2018
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Educational Pathways based on skill-sets alone
Source: TAFE NSW, Reskilling and Vocational Training Report. January 2020
In this new sector, Ernst & Young identified the following future skillset clusters with the greatest growth (2019):OPEN Council Meeting Page 121 of 327
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Changes in Workplace Training
With traditional education perceived as being expensive and unable to meet real-time requirements of employees,
there has been a dramatic shift in workplace education. A number of organisations are investing in unaccredited
employee education or co-creating courseware with educational institutes to develop staff capabilities. Moreover,
there has been a marked shift in workplace education away from just digital learning, to experiential learning in the
workplace.
• Globally, this corporate educational market is worth an estimated $31bn with a CAGR of 11 per cent14
• In the online education sector in Australia, non-formal education accounted for 12.4per cent of sector
revenue in 2019, around $632.4 million.15
• Over 48 per cent of all employers in Australia use unaccredited training and 72 per cent use informal
training for their employees, rivalling the traditional use of university education training.16
• The development of specific Capability Academies (eg Optus has developed an in house CX academy) that
offer continuous learning in specific areas and in the flow learning within the organisation is growing.
• Specialist learning precincts are emerging to meet this growing demand. These precincts involve
Government, universities and TAFEs coming together to develop real-time training and education needs (eg
Western Sydney Aerotropolis, Sydney’s Innovation Precinct,
Key Insight
With 50 per cent of organisations in Australia planning to spend more on training in the coming year, there is
already a high propensity to spend in this market. While perceived credibility should give universities a market
advantage, cumbersome and inflexible offerings and higher fees are obstacles that need to be addressed prior to
a dedicated strategic approach being actioned.
Preferred providers – Workplace Training, Australia
Source: Developing the Workforce for a Digital Future. AI Group. 2018.
14 Work-Related Training and Adult Learning. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2018.
15 Online Education Growth and Market Report. IBISWorld 2019.
16 Unaccredited Training – Why Employers Use it and Does It Meet Their Needs. Ian White, Navinda De Silva. NCVER. 10 December 2018.OPEN Council Meeting Page 122 of 327
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Case Studies: Workplace Education and Training
Optus Optus CX Academy
This is the first of several strategies to build and improve Optus customer experience and
service outcomes. Partnering with academics and trainers, the academy was born out of a
strategic focus to improve customer experience. The program takes employees through a
variety of customer experience [CX] masterclasses designed to drive the best end to end
experience outcomes for customers. Over 300 employees nationally have been trained on
Lean Process Improvement, Customer Journey Mapping and Human Centred Design. Optus is
planning to have these courses formally accredited and recognised.
RMIT New course to meet demand for DevOps professionals and Launch of the Centre for
Digital Enterprise
Developed in partnership with Thoughtworks and Devops Agile Skills Association (DASA),
the course has been designed to upskill those in technology and management roles looking to
understand the benefits and processes of integrating DevOps within their business. The
Centre for Digital Enterprise is a partnership between RMIT University, Wodonga TAFE and
Sunraysia Institute of TAFE, working together to support both city and regional businesses. It
provides training and support for all businesses wishing to develop their management and
skills for technology in the workplace.
Westpac Westpac launches major new broker education platform
The new Broker Academy has been developed by Westpac Group in conjunction with global
training digital disruptor GO1.com and in consultation with industry partners, including the
Commercial & Asset Finance Brokers Association of Australia (CAFBA) and the Institute of
Strategic Management (ISM). It aims to provide one of the most comprehensive integrated
online learning and business knowledge platforms available to help support finance brokers
in Australia. The online education portal connects brokers with up to 5,000 CPD-approved
courses ranging from compliance, sales, marketing, contract law negotiation, management,
wellbeing and hard and soft skills training.
Australia Post Establishment of AusPost Tech Academy
Following an induction and 12-week technology bootcamp run by Coder Academy, students
will spend two weeks on an operational placement at a mail facility, parcel facility and Post
Office before starting rotations within the Melbourne headquarters.
There are 4 x 5-month rotations over two years. One rotation in the business area offers your
choice tertiary education courses.
Those market areas posing the largest opportunities are medium and large organisations, and state
government agencies.OPEN Council Meeting Page 123 of 327
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Source: Deloitte Digital, 2019.
2.0 Market Drivers and Opportunities
Today’s student is a highly connected, mobile, and sophisticated online citizen that dictates how educational
providers need to deliver their products and services.
The Domestic Market
When combining population and demographic-driven data, demand for higher education in Australia is projected to
grow by an additional 50,000 undergraduate enrolments by 2020, and 156,000 by 2030. In total, this would see
demand for an additional 81,000 places in 2020 and 219,000 places in 2030.17 The majority of this market growth
and opportunity remains in undergraduate programmes.
Those universities with online operations also have a national footprint, therefore, an opportunity to market to
interstate students exists. In this regard, the largest school leaver populations are NSW followed by Qld and Victoria.
Projections for 2030
Enrolment Growth By State and Age Enrolment Growth by Product
17 Future Demand for Higher Education in Australia. go8Univeristies.OPEN Council Meeting Page 124 of 327
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Source: ABS (Australian Demographic Statistics, Education and Work Survey). Future Demand for Higher Education in Australia,
go8Univeristies.
Overall, children growing up in regional or remote areas with the same academic ability as their metropolitan peers
continue to be much less likely to attend university due to accessibility issues. There is an opportunity for a strong
online university to spearhead this market and create a superior NSW wide regional educational offering, and partner
to provide students in these communities with internet access.
The micro-degree/skills set/Diploma market presents an opportunity for dual sector universities to significantly
increase their domestic market share. There is a growing overlap in earnings and outcomes between bachelor and
diploma courses and these two categories are beginning to merge – indeed, many universities currently offer
Diploma courses, and TAFE is now offering bachelor degrees that have integrated recognised prior learning units.
There is an opportunity to capture a larger slice of this vocational/Diploma market from vocational providers.
This market segment could provide an opportunity for universities to capture more domestic students, in the wake of
declining international students with Covid-19.
A recent Ernst & Young report18 found that Australian university completion rates continue to fall. The 9-year
completion rate has fallen from 75per cent in 2009 to an estimated low of 66per cent in 2017. This indicates that
almost one in three students who enrol in bachelor and above courses do not complete their studies. There are 1
million university enrolments in 2017 and approximately 357,000 will not graduate in 9 years.
With expected growth in bachelor’s degrees, there is a need to better support low ATAR students attending
universities due to their current failure rates19. A new category of degree course that better supports their ability to
complete is required – eg: micro degrees, nano-degree, stackable skill sets as RPL for degree pathways.
The rate of full-time employment following undergraduate degrees is declining, making degrees less attractive
for students wanting employment immediately after or during their studies. There is a clear mismatch in university
offerings/courses and what the labour market requires. In the past two decades, unemployment and
underemployment for graduates four months after graduation has increased to 28per cent in 2017. This means there
were approximately 63,000 graduates unemployed or underemployed four months after graduation. At the same
time, for most students, employment is cited as a factor in their decision to enrol in a higher education course - for
bachelor-degree students, about 85 per cent give a job-related consideration as their main reason for study.
18The Productivity Uplift from Better Outcomes for our University Students. 18 September 2019. Ernst& Young.
19 Risks and Rewards. When Is Vocational Training a Good Alternative To Higher Education. August 2019. Grattan Institute.OPEN Council Meeting Page 125 of 327
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The International Market
The international market has been significantly impacted by Covid-19, however, according to Austrade, the onshore
international sector (should it return to normal) could generate up to 940,000 new enrolments by 2025 (which
equates to a compounding annual growth rate of 3.8 per cent). 20China is set to remain Australia’s largest source
market, followed by India and Vietnam.
With the onset of Corona to continue through the next 24 months, growth will slow and the focus will be on growing
in the domestic market. However, there are opportunities when a Post-Covid new norm emerges, as identified by
Austrade in a commissioned report21:
• As developing countries expand their educational offerings in-country, Australian universities have the
potential to support this growth through the provision of online content for licencing fees, with careful
consideration to intellectual property protection.
• There is also an opportunity to capture a slice of the international VET market. The largest VET onshore
enrolments in 2025 are forecast to come from India (16 per cent), Thailand (eight per cent) and South
Korea (seven per cent). Should dual sector universities tap into this market, there is an opportunity to
increase enrolments through the offering of short courses/skill sets /Diploma courses as degree pathways.
• Roughly five million students are studying abroad today and the major driver of student mobility to date has
been unmet demand for higher education in developing countries. A growing number of students in these
countries are choosing to stay within the region to study as a result of Covid-19. As Asia increases its
capacity to absorb students from the region and expands its recruitment of international students, countries
such as Australia may well see demand for places slow, especially from major sending markets such as
China and India. Pursuing greater diversification in international enrolments will become ever more
important. In addition, the number of Chinese university-aged students will be notably smaller 15 years
from now: demographers expect China’s population of 20-24-year-olds to decline by 20per cent from 2010
to 2020.
• Beyond Covid-19, regional mobility schemes are an opportunity for Australian universities to continue to
maintain international momentum. The ASEAN International Mobility for Students (AIMS) programme, the
Erasmus programme in Europe and bilateral mobility arrangements, including Mexico’s Proyecta
100,000 initiative and the corresponding 100,000 Strong in the Americas programme will gain traction.
• International students have an expanding array of educational options that are (a) close to home and (b)
more affordable than those in Australia so a new, collaborative regional model with mobile credentials,
cross-university curriculums and transferrable learning is required. There is an opportunity for Australian
universities to partner with like-minded educational institutes to create more mobility with students, co-
create courses, white label content.
20 Growth and opportunity in Australian international education. Austrade. Deloitte Access Economics and EduWorld. 2016
21 Ibid.OPEN Council Meeting Page 126 of 327
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Key Insight
Industry Mismatch: There is a mismatch between the field of study and industry demand in the Australian
university sector. In 2018, approximately 43per cent of graduates were not in a job that fully utilised their
education; indicating that this mismatch is an underlying issue. More than half of Australian graduates do
not believe their degree is ‘very important’ for their current employment yet up to 85 per cent of students
choose their university based on it being able to provide employment and career prospects. There is a
market opportunity for a university to provide industry specific degree courses, diplomas or micro-degrees
and link this to a sophisticated employment matching service.
Completion Rates: One in three current students in Australian universities are unlikely to complete and
this is likely to rise given that significant new demand for bachelor’s degrees from low ATAR students.
Developing a suite of micro degree/stackable skillsets on top of existing degree courses, and student
support services such as bootcamps, mental health support, and work placement services should be
considered. Improving student choice is also a contributing factor so providing more detailed career
information as part of an improved ‘entry conversation’ process is required.
Domestic Market: With international markets in decline, the competition for an increased share of the
domestic market will intensify. Capturing a slice of the vocational Diploma market could have merit, as will
the identification of new, interstate market opportunities.
International Market: New and enhanced student mobility and joint-credentials schemes with Asian
partner universities will be key post Covid-19 as more students will opt to learn at home and not abroad.
Given demographic trends, the focus should be on the rising middle class in smaller, developing nations.
The Modern Learner
A study conducted by Deloitte and Bersin22 found the following characteristics of the modern learner:
Overwhelmed, impatient and distracted: The average person spends 25 per cent of their time on emails, checks
their phone 150 times a day and gives content around seven seconds to decide if it’s relevant to them. The average
person spends two hours a day on their smartphone and will only put aside 24 minutes a week for learning.
Keen to learn: The modern learner is keen to be better educated for the sense of personal satisfaction and
achievement it provides. Glassdoor data reveals that among Millennials, the “ability to learn and progress” is now the
principal driver of a company’s employment brand.
Want personalized, timely, quality content: The majority of learning is done in the moment of need and is
expected to be personalised. Google reports that mobile searches that include the term “best” and “____for me” have
grown by 80 and 60 per cent respectively, in the last two years. Students expect providers, including universities to
provide them with customised and personalised services similar to other sectors such as Financial Services. Over 70
per cent of online users will leave portals if they are not optimised for them and their needs. Learners like to learn
anytime and anywhere - 30 per cent learning whilst they travel to and from work and 41per cent opting to learn at
their desks.
Self-paced and workplace learning are highly valued: The majority of students prefer to learn through on-the -job
experience. Collaboration and knowledge sharing also rank highly as a result of turning to others for advice being
more widely available through the use of social networking tools. With respect to classroom learning, while 63 per
cent of students find it a useful form of learning, only 31 per cent find it particularly important or essential. Self-
paced e-learning is considered essential by around 49 per cent of students.
Most value quality, ease of use and relevance in online learning: Students most value quality, ease of use and
navigation, and relevance and timeliness in their online or hybrid study.
22 Leading in Learning. Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte. 29 March 2018. Deloitte.OPEN Council Meeting Page 127 of 327
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Source: Leading in Learning. Josh Bersin, Bersin by Deloitte.
A Closer Look at Generation Z (1995-2015)
Generation Z students are leading the change in how education and learning is delivered and consumed. They are a
driving force in the innovation of new learning tools as well as teaching styles. They have unlimited access to
resources and are behind universities creating more learner-centric environments, where students become the
directors of their own futures. As the first generation of digital natives, they are familiar with engaging digital
platforms and quick to recognise poor digital design, becoming disengaged by a poor online experience.
According to Ernst & Young23, Australian students would opt out of their degrees if there was another viable, more
relevant pathway to employment and progressing their careers.
• A total of 42 per cent of students say their current degree requires transformation in light of new digital
technologies and disruption in their workplace. This increases to 51 per cent for international students, and
56 per cent for business and management students. The risk to universities is that they become untethered
from industry and continue to offer irrelevant education to equip students for a rapidly changing workplace
in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
A study conducted by Barnes and Noble College24 shows that today’s students refuse to be passive learners.
• Gen Z are not interested in simply showing up for class, sitting through a lecture, and taking notes that they
will memorize for an exam later on. Instead, they expect to be fully engaged and to be a part of the learning
process themselves. Gen Z students tend to thrive when they are given the opportunity to have a fully
immersive educational experience and enjoy the challenges of being a part of it. Just over half of Gen Z
students (51 per cent) surveyed said they learn best by doing while only 12 per cent said they learn through
listening. These same students also mentioned they tend to enjoy class discussions and interactive
classroom environments over the traditional dissemination of information. There is also a strong preference
towards a collaborative learning environment – this generation of learners are comfortable learning
alongside other students, even outside of their own school.
As a digital generation, Generation Z expect personalised learning and digital learning tools to be deeply
integrated into their education. For them, technology has always been a fully integrated experience in every aspect of
their lives and their view is that education should not be any different.
23
Can the Universities of Today Lead Learning for Tomorrow, Ernst& Young, 2018. Accessed 12 May 2020. Ernst& Young
24 Gen Z: Exploring High Schoolers Expectations for Higher Ed. Barnes and Noble College.OPEN Council Meeting Page 128 of 327
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• Gen Z believe that universities should be able to seamlessly connect academic experiences to their personal
data to provide personalised experiences.
• Additionally, they expect learning tools to be available on-demand and with low barriers to access. For
them, learning is not limited to the classroom and should be able to be an ‘anytime, anywhere’ activity.
Access to unlimited new information has created a more self-reliant and career driven student.
• In the Barnes and Noble survey, as many as 13 per cent of Gen Z already have their own business and many
are even taking this entrepreneurial spirit to drive changes in university curriculum. Part of this change is
due to the fact that they have more access to more information than the generations before them. By the
time this generation has reached higher education, they are already well versed in current events, music
popular culture, and global trends. They are well aware of the world around them and are already beginning
to think through what their place in it will be.
Gen Z are impatient, like gamification and want organisations to ‘keep it real’
• 47 per cent of consumers research products and services online prior to consuming and when they search,
60 per cent will hang-up if their call is unanswered within 45 seconds. In addition, 42per cent percent of
Gen Z respondents in a recent study said they would participate in an online game for a campaign; 43per
cent would write a product review.25
• 60 per cent of Gen Z shoppers will not use apps or websites that load slowly or are difficult to navigate and
63 per cent of Gen Z members prefer real people to celebrities when it comes to advertisements.26
Gen Z is not only eager for more personalized products but also willing to pay a premium for products that
highlight their individuality.
• 58 percent of consumers say they are willing to pay more for personalized offerings and will also pay a
premium for products that embrace causes they identify with. As we enter the “segmentation of one” age,
there is an opportunity for universities to leverage advanced analytics to improve their insights from
existing student databases27.
Key Insights
Mastering online presence. Nearly half of Gen Z shoppers research their purchases online before stepping into a
store or on a campus and once online, there is an eight second brand filter. Online information, ratings, prices and
student testimonials need to be consistently and easily available online. Partnerships with like-minded brands
will also be well considered by Gen Z.
Digital platforms provide new low-cost ways to individually tailor courses and career information, but more
research is needed to understand how people respond to it and how it can be best delivered to support course
choice. Comparative sites are now starting to emerge in industries such as insurance, travel and home loans. SEEK
is establishing a ‘trip advisor’ online portal to compare educational offerings, prices and service levels (judged by
students, for students).
Personalised learning. More than half of all modern learners indicate a strong desire for adaptive and
personalized learning, 80 per cent like learning at their own pace, and 90 per cent prefer to learn through
collaboration with their peers and tutors. An advanced adaptive learning platform and new approaches to
teaching are required. While some universities offer digital content and connected learning, no university has
developed a fully integrated personalised platform that truly meets the needs of the modern learner.
For Gen Z, price and quality need to align. In the future, different pricing models may need to apply to different
delivery methods, to give Gen Z greater transparency. Repackaging curriculums or de-bundling products will
demand more transparent pricing where instructional access or F2F learning is more expensive than an online
webinar – universities could be forced to adopt this model in the future.
25
Move Over Millennials: Generation Z Is The Retail Industry's Next Big Buying Group. Matthew Shay. Forbes. 12 January 2017
26
What brands need to know about GenZ. Kate Beckman. 17 March 2017. BazaarVoice.
27
Online learning in Australian higher education: Opportunities, challenges and transformations. Cathy Stone. Student Success Volume 10,
Issue 2, pp. 1-11. August 2019.Student Success JournalYou can also read
